Wow that an American armed male police officer truly thought he could get away with beating up an unarmed vulnerable female – the officer pulled her hair, the officer punched her in the abdomen several times. It seems that the officer allowed his prejudices and emotions to dominate the situation. I wonder if his fury was worsened by the fact that she was a female verbally challenging his prejudices? Makes you wonder whether the officer gives his wife a swift backhander if she deigns to disagree with him?

The difference is that in Russia there isn’t a free press, and the police don’t arrest those who attack LGBT, instead they arrest the victim.

Steven Gregory

I’ve also read a few accounts where police forcibly restrain anyone who tries to intervene on behalf of a victim.

lee

they are so backwards still in the USA -Europe and other countries have progress far more. Shocking to see a officer behave in this way -thankfully with mobile this incidents are caught and put in the public domain.

tillthen

Your post is more shocking in its ignorance.

hogwash

and yet your post only goes to prove Lees comment has some merit.

lee

do explain what you mean please what is shocking?

Steven Gregory

“tillthen” is a gay-baiting right wing troll who finds this site irresistible, and loves to annoy. He (I’ve deduced from past comments) constantly responds to my comments trying to goad a response. Just ignore him.

Damien

Not a whole lot actually visible in that clip, looks like he grabbed her hair and I think two punches to the stomach. If she was resisting arrest I don’t know how that would be unreasonable… absolutely no context is evidenced. But obviously it’s just easier for all the commentators above to present her as a saint and the police officer as a scumbag – no doubt many are, but this clip proves nothing.

InvisibleZombie

I agree, hard to take either side with st that clip. We’ve seen clips of officers using excessive force but just as many or more of people resisting and taking shots at the officers first.

Mark Y

I don’t care if the young Woman spat in his face. There is no need to punch someone in their sides like the police officer just did to that young Woman.

If a husband beats up his wife like that, the Man is arrested. This police officer should also be arrested for beating someone up.

InvisibleZombie

Well first, spitting in the officer’s face could land her a felony assault charge. As to what she actually did to provoke that response I don’t know. But American women have proven themselves to have equal rights in that they can be just as vicious and harmful as men when lashing out with violence, and it’s not necessarily the husband who gets arrested nowadays in domestic battery.

If you believe a man could provoke an officer to the point of fighting back then you can believe a woman can too. But as I said, hard to judge just by that clip.

Chris in LA

“If you believe a man could provoke an officer to the point of fighting back then you can believe a woman can too.”

Some men don’t even have to provoke a police officer to be shot to death. In the back, too, some of them.

InvisibleZombie

If there’s been an unprovoked-shooting-in-the-back-by-an-officer incident somewhere then I honestly hope that justice is done in that case. In this case however, just because I’m gay doesn’t preclude the possibility that I won’t rule out the fact that this woman could be a real asshat who struck an officer.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

You clearly don’t pay much attention to American policing. This is a common occurrence in America, so much so that there are several groups across the country tasked exclusively with exposing police brutality and violence publicly.

I recall once incident just last year, where a young man was laying on the ground having been chased, and a police officer shot him in the back. He was already cuffed.

Another incident at a train station, same thing happened. That was in front of a hundred people. And it was caught on video.

At Occupy protests several people in NY were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray for no reason. In Oakland a young man was in a coma for several days after being shot in the head by a smoke canister at almost point blank range.

At another protest on a college campus more than 10 young protesters were peacefully protesting sitting along a path when a thug in uniform sprayed them all at point blank range with chemical agents. Again, caught on video.

In LA a family were sitting on the grass at a protest when police let go of their dogs and they attacked a child.

These are all out there on YouTube for you to see, even though various US police forces have tried to have them taken down (a fact revealed through transparency reports by Google and YouTube).

In most of these cases there was no criminal charge against any of those harmed or killed, and no criminal charges then made against the officers. For the incident in NY it took Anonymous to hack and leak the personal information of the officers seen beating people for the NYPD and Mayor to finally act and remove them from duty.

In all of the instances I have seen there has been massive attempts to deny and cover up any wrongdoing. These officers have been repeatedly protected by their corrupt colleagues.

InvisibleZombie

I can’t argue with someone who sees ONLY what they WANT to see. You focus on either a) the rogue police officers who actually do go beyond their duties and hurt someone and b) you also see videos which are slanted to make the police look bad because you only hear one side of the story.

What you DON’T want to see is the many officers who get fired and imprisoned for doing such things. because, y’know, it’s more sensationalistic to say “they get off free” and “forces remove the videos from public view”. No, the violent offenders do not get off, even a local officer who had helped me with a lawnmower theft ended up in the hoosegow for shaking down some motorists at traffic stops. What you DON’T want to see are the hundreds of thousands of officers laying their lives on the line every day AND constantly arresting the real scums of the earth.

JUST the top LOCAL Crime Headlines TODAY!!! It shows a lot of crime but it shows a lot of valiant officers working their butts off to protect and serve.

But, don’t look at that, it spoils your paranoia and anger.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

You clearly don’t pay much attention to American policing. This is a common occurrence in America, so much so that there are several groups across the country tasked exclusively with exposing police brutality and violence publicly.

I recall once incident just last year, where a young man was laying on the ground having been chased, and a police officer shot him in the back. He was already cuffed.

Another incident at a train station, same thing happened. That was in front of a hundred people. And it was caught on video.

At Occupy protests several people in NY were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray for no reason. In Oakland a young man was in a coma for several days after being shot in the head by a smoke canister at almost point blank range.

At another protest on a college campus more than 10 young protesters were peacefully protesting sitting along a path when a thug in uniform sprayed them all at point blank range with chemical agents. Again, caught on video.

In LA a family were sitting on the grass at a protest when police let go of their dogs and they attacked a child.

These are all out there on YouTube for you to see, even though various US police forces have tried to have them taken down (a fact revealed through transparency reports by Google and YouTube).

In most of these cases there was no criminal charge against any of those harmed or killed, and no criminal charges then made against the officers. For the incident in NY it took Anonymous to hack and leak the personal information of the officers seen beating people for the NYPD and Mayor to finally act and remove them from duty.

In all of the instances I have seen there has been massive attempts to deny and cover up any wrongdoing. These officers have been repeatedly protected by their corrupt colleagues.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

You clearly don’t pay much attention to American policing. This is a common occurrence in America, so much so that there are several groups across the country tasked exclusively with exposing police brutality and violence publicly.

I recall once incident just last year, where a young man was laying on the ground having been chased, and a police officer shot him in the back. He was already cuffed.

Another incident at a train station, same thing happened. That was in front of a hundred people. And it was caught on video.

At Occupy protests several people in NY were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray for no reason. In Oakland a young man was in a coma for several days after being shot in the head by a smoke canister at almost point blank range.

At another protest on a college campus more than 10 young protesters were peacefully protesting sitting along a path when a thug in uniform sprayed them all at point blank range with chemical agents. Again, caught on video.

In LA a family were sitting on the grass at a protest when police let go of their dogs and they attacked a child.

These are all out there on YouTube for you to see, even though various US police forces have tried to have them taken down (a fact revealed through transparency reports by Google and YouTube).

In most of these cases there was no criminal charge against any of those harmed or killed, and no criminal charges then made against the officers. For the incident in NY it took Anonymous to hack and leak the personal information of the officers seen beating people for the NYPD and Mayor to finally act and remove them from duty.

In all of the instances I have seen there has been massive attempts to deny and cover up any wrongdoing. These officers have been repeatedly protected by their corrupt colleagues.

Cal

You are kidding right? The police are allowed to repeatedly punch smaller women for “resisting arrest”?

Mark Y

You’re right, I can’t believe so many people agree with Damien. Shocking.

Dolly Digest

It is clear from the clip that she is in absolutely no condition to be resisting arrest. Is it normal in American policing for an armed male police officer to pull the hair of an unarmed vulnerable female swiftly followed by several punches to the abdomen – there are no excuses, even if she were verbally challenging the officer’s treatment of her. I have looked at several other media reports and witness statements and it appears that the officer allowed his own prejudices and emotions to dominate the situation which concluded in him beating up on this poor woman. It is possible that on top of his homophobia he probably did not like being verbally challenged by a female. Hopefully this woman will submit a lawsuit against the police force and the individual police officer and if justice is served he will lose his job, his benefits, his pension and hopefully he will end up owing the woman a considerable amount in damages – he needs to be made an example of!

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

Definitely reserving judgement on this one. Video doesn’t show who did what to whom.

tillthen

I don’t believe it! The voice of reason.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

The voice of reason would recognize that there is a criminal justice system for a reason, and the police are not permitted to decide guilt nor punishment.

There are hundreds of thousands of police in the USA who seem to have missed out on a very important piece of education – their job is to detain and deliver those accused of crime to the proper authorities and the legal system, it is not their job to violently crack down on anyone and assume any measure of guilt, nor is it their job to use force first and ask questions later.

Please tell me you’re not a serving police officer, because if you are you need to be removed from your position immediately if you are at all confused about how the legal system works.

tillthen

You’re the villain. You want to convict a man because he’s a police officer, and yet you have not an iota of confirming evidence that this female is free of guilt herself. You’re the worst, legally and morally, a blood thirsty bunch of queens. You get what you deserve.

You have no moral compass at all if you cannot see the problem with this officer’s behaviour. I hope you don’t aspire to hold a badge one day. You aren’t worthy of it, nor is this particular policeman.

Ben

Firstly, whether she is free of guilt or not, nothing justify’s punching someone and pulling their hair. Violence is wrong… end of.

Secondly, going by your comments you have a serious thing against the LGBT community, why are you even using this LGBT site? Maybe you’re hiding something yourself….

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

There is absolutely no excuse for the violence of this officer, none at all.

Far too many Police in America are thugs with daddy issues, they put on a uniform and suddenly think they’re a jury, judge and executioner. It is NOT THEIR JOB to decide guilt, it is their job to detain those ACCUSED of a crime or SUSPECTED of criminal activity, evidence is then gathered for the COURTS to use to decide guilt and appropriate punishment.

Those accused or suspected of a crime have the same Human Rights as every other person, whether you assume them to be guilty or not. They have to be treated as innocent until proven otherwise and there is absolutely no excuse for treating them with any less respect or decency than a presumed innocent person. This is what policing should be built on, but in the USA it’s really not.

Once again, there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for any officer of any police force to ever act this way against any person under any circumstances.

Damien

Read the last sentence you just wrote and have a think, if you have an IQ over 6 it discredits your intelligence. Of course there are circumstances were it’s warranted for a police officer to punch someone during an attempted arrest. If not why do they carry batons, tasers and guns? If someone was assaulting you and a Police Officer came over and started politely asking your assailant to cease would you be a little miffed? I imagine you’d be more than a little miffed if the police officer in question did then fail to try to arrest your assailant using physical force. I also imagine you’d be more than a little miffed if the police officer in question tried to arrest your assailant but did so in a manner ensuring he would not possibly cause any harm to your assailant in the process, and consequently obviously failing to effect an arrest and failing to protect you.

Fundamentally THERE ARE MANY EXCUSES for any officer of any police force to act this way against any person depending upon the circumstances. The circumstances of this incident are not evidenced by this video clip, it evidences remarkably little other than a forceful arrest. It does not evidence whether the force was appropriate or not. Neither you nor I are in the possession of the facts to make that judgement. Quit the circus kangaroo court.

to_tell_the_truth

Thanks for the list of “EXCUSES”.
Now, could we please have some REASONS that might JUSTIFY this cop punching this woman in the head repeatedly?

Damien

Okay, so if we actually look at the clip beyond the horror of the woman being punched a couple of times in the stomach, not repeatedly over the head, what do we see?

First few seconds show either the officer pulling the woman away from a situation or her pushing him away, from the clip it is hard to tell which. At the end of this movement the woman has fell over onto her hands and knees, she is drunk.

Next what is shown is that she is back on her feet and seemingly grabbing the officer, who then grabs her hair and punches her in the stomach a few times. The punches don’t seem to be too hard as she is still standing and not at all seemingly winded.

Faced with an aggressive drunk individual a few punches to the stomach is likely to shock and disorientate someone, consequently enabling an arrest. I don’t see him beating her to the ground to effect the arrest. Getting five police officers to pin you down, without the use of a few punches would likely be a more painful experience.

Maybe he didn’t much like her and this made his arrest more violent than necessary. Maybe he’s a homophobe that got a kick out of punching her. Maybe in a snap judgment he decided this was the best way to enforce the law. I DO NOT KNOW, and I’m not going to jump to conclusions about something I know relatively little about.

I find it depressingly ironic how people on here are always more than happy to jump to judgement of others without possession of the requisite info.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

I don’t disagree with the central thrust of your argument, but “Not under any circumstances”? Not even if someone has a loaded firearm pointed directly at you, with their hand on the trigger, ready to fire, not even then?

This video is too short to draw conclusions, at least for me, because we don’t see the before and after, and there are people in front of the camera obscuring the view.

to_tell_the_truth

The woman did NOT have “a loaded firearm” … at all, nevermind “pointed directly at” the officer, nevermind “with [her] hand on the trigger, ready to fire”.
Please stop bringing in irrelevancies and try discussing what actually happened.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

You stated, shouted in fact in capital letters, that there was never any situation where a police officer could be justified in resorting to violence. I therefore gave one example of where I thought it could be justified. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t a literal example of the present scenario, it was an analogy to call you out on your absolutist use of the word “never”.

Speaking for myself, I don’t know “what actually happened”, and that is why I said at the opening of this thread, I am reserving judgement and ever since have been subjected to hysterical verbosity from you as a result.

You on the other hand have made up your mind on the basis of a few seconds of video. So do we even need a trial, since guilt has been proven to your satisfaction?

I never said the officer was innocent; I don’t know that, and it isn’t my place to. That’s why we have a justice system so that vigilantes like you don’t take charge and we don’t hang people before they’ve had a chance to tell their side of the story.

And before you get uppity again, I don’t mean literally “hang”. You can Google the figures of speech ‘metaphor’ and ‘hyperbole’ before replying, if you feel you must have the last word.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

There is a big difference between a firearms incident and a verbal or physical altercation, lets not be completely ridiculous about this.

In such a case, a police officer wouldn’t be throwing punches and grabbing someone by the hair to take them down, and they would be right in using reasonable force as there is a clear and present threat to life from an armed assailant. A shot to the leg should take them down.

This is nothing like that. You know it, I know it, so adding in “what if’s” does not bolster your argument.

Once again, policing and the justice system relies on the belief of innocence until proven guilty. However you look at this video, that is not in practice and the officer is using excessive force to detain someone accused of a crime.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

I have punched someone who was choking, on the back, to help dislodge what was in their windpipe. Take a video of that and post it on YouTube and you’ll see me appearing to assault the person. Things aren’t always what they seem.

I never said the police office is innocent, nor do I say he is guilty, because unlike you, I do not see the determination of guilt as my job. My taxes fund a court system to sort out who did what to whom, why and when, and if guilt has been determined, to mete out appropriate and commensurate punishment.

You’re loaded for bear for some reason, and want to pick a fight by any means, relying heavily on the logical fallacy of straw man.

When I read some of the hysterical comments on threads like this, it helps me to understand why homophobia hasn’t been defeated.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

I have punched someone who was choking, on the back, to help dislodge what was in their windpipe. Take a video of that and post it on YouTube and you’ll see me appearing to assault the person. Things aren’t always what they seem.

I never said the police office is innocent, nor do I say he is guilty, because unlike you, I do not see the determination of guilt as my job. My taxes fund a court system to sort out who did what to whom, why and when, and if guilt has been determined, to mete out appropriate and commensurate punishment.

You’re loaded for bear for some reason, and want to pick a fight by any means, relying heavily on the logical fallacy of straw man.

When I read some of the hysterical comments on threads like this, it helps me to understand why homophobia hasn’t been defeated.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

I have punched someone who was choking, on the back, to help dislodge what was in their windpipe. Take a video of that and post it on YouTube and you’ll see me appearing to assault the person. Things aren’t always what they seem.

I never said the police office is innocent, nor do I say he is guilty, because unlike you, I do not see the determination of guilt as my job. My taxes fund a court system to sort out who did what to whom, why and when, and if guilt has been determined, to mete out appropriate and commensurate punishment.

You’re loaded for bear for some reason, and want to pick a fight by any means, relying heavily on the logical fallacy of straw man.

When I read some of the hysterical comments on threads like this, it helps me to understand why homophobia hasn’t been defeated.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

There is a big difference between a firearms incident and a verbal or physical altercation, lets not be completely ridiculous about this.

In such a case, a police officer wouldn’t be throwing punches and grabbing someone by the hair to take them down, and they would be right in using reasonable force as there is a clear and present threat to life from an armed assailant. A shot to the leg should take them down.

This is nothing like that. You know it, I know it, so adding in “what if’s” does not bolster your argument.

Once again, policing and the justice system relies on the belief of innocence until proven guilty. However you look at this video, that is not in practice and the officer is using excessive force to detain someone accused of a crime.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

There is a big difference between a firearms incident and a verbal or physical altercation, lets not be completely ridiculous about this.

In such a case, a police officer wouldn’t be throwing punches and grabbing someone by the hair to take them down, and they would be right in using reasonable force as there is a clear and present threat to life from an armed assailant. A shot to the leg should take them down.

This is nothing like that. You know it, I know it, so adding in “what if’s” does not bolster your argument.

Once again, policing and the justice system relies on the belief of innocence until proven guilty. However you look at this video, that is not in practice and the officer is using excessive force to detain someone accused of a crime.

Mark Y

Derek, you know you’ve probably got it wrong when that racist and homophobic bigoted troll ’tillthen’ agrees with you.

Jones

One of the instances where I disagree with you Derek. The police are supposed to protect the public not go around punching those who they are trying to arrest in the stomach. If there was an immediate threat to the safety of the public or the officer, then I would agree but in this instance there isn’t and the actions of the officer are completely wrong.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

Were you there? I don’t know how you can work out all that so as to be judge and jury, unless you saw the entire incident from start to finish. Even then, both the alleged attacker and the alleged victim are entitled to due legal process, and if the police officer is convicted, or otherwise disciplined, it is not up to us to enact punishment.

There’s a lot of straw man logical fallacy going around this thread. I
never said, nor do I think that police should “go around punching those who they are trying to arrest in the stomach”. I made a simple
statement that I would reserve judgement (not that it’s even my place to make judgement).

If the matter goes to trial, then we couldn’t even legally be carrying on this conversation since it will then by sub judice. Courts alone have the authority to determine guilt or innocence, and to exact legal and commensurate punishment according to judicial precedent.

Jones

I can quite clearly see an officer beating up an unarmed woman who it seems poses no threat to anyone. If she did have a gun or weapon or posed an immediate threat to anyone around, then I doubt someone would stand there filming it and shout “What are you doing!?!” at the officer.

http://www.derekwilliams.net Derek Williams

Again straw man. You are portraying me as someone who wantonly supports the beating up of females and the incarceration of innocents. I am neither of the above. I am one who wants to see the evidence tested in a court of law, not by the lynch mob.

Steven Gregory

I understand your position, but even the officer’s excuse holds no water: he punched her repeatedly in the abdomen to distract her while he cuffed her? That’s bizarre and there doesn’t appear to be any attempt to cuff her without punching her.

Mark Y

I must have been watching a different video to some people above. I saw a police officer beating up a young Woman. Why would anyone above not think this is absolutely disgusting? The police officer should be sacked, never mind suspended.

Robert W. Pierce

Police should not be using violence against anyone, no matter the gender. If the woman had physically attacked the anti-Pride demonstrator as intimated in this article, an arrest is warranted but not to resort to violence in doing so on the part of the policeman.

Damien

Would you care to suggest how you can arrest someone who is resisting arrest without the use of violence??? Ask them politely?

Robert W. Pierce

There were other officers near him, he could have just asked one more to help him restrain the woman. What’s so difficult about that? American police have a reputation for this as well as being trigger happy, shoot at any provocation even if someone is unarmed.

Jones

In the UK other officers generally tend to run and help their colleagues when they see an officer trying to restrain a suspect. I’m not sure American cops are programmed to react in the same manner.

to_tell_the_truth

Why not at least TRY that tactic, rather than punching a woman repeatedly in the head?
What ever happened to cops saying, “Place your hands on your head. You’re under arrest.”???

Damien

Where’s the evidence he hadn’t already tried that? Also no evidence of punches to the head. CONTEXT, absolutely none provided.

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

British police arrest thousands of violent people every year without resorting to punching and kicking people, so how come we can achieve this but the US cops cant?

http://www.bloketoys.co.uk/ BlokeToys.co.uk

British police arrest thousands of violent people every year without resorting to punching and kicking people, so how come we can achieve this but the US cops cant?

http://hunteratrandom.blogspot.com/ rmthunter

The core problem is that police are human, and with the power they wield and the responsibility they have, they need to be more than that. Add to that the trend toward increasing militarization of police forces (the Tampa, FL, police department has a freaking TANK for “crowd control”), the police culture (everyone else is the enemy, in its extreme forms, which are starting to seem like the norm), and the tendency of internal investigation units to hand down a slap on a wrist for egregious violations, and we have a disaster in the making here.

Given all that, it will be interesting to see what the investigation uncovers. And if the victim’s account is accurate, I hope she sues — it’s likely to be her only recourse.

That There Other David

American friends of mine tell me how their police officers often act as if they are above the law rather than the protectors of it. Incidents such as this sort of prove them right. This officer should at the very least be sent back to basic training.

InvisibleZombie

You need to find more rational American friends.

InvisibleZombie

There’s a longer clip on the Pittsburgh WPXI site but it’s not much more helpful. It says that when a fight broke out between Lawther and Moore the officer “went to break the fight up, he was pushed and kicked.” It’s not really a stretch to believe that Lawther was violent as it started with a group yelling at some evangelical protesters (Yay!) but ended with some shrieking harpy repeatedly yelling “I GOT THIS ON VIDEO!” which often signals she didn’t care what she was capturing on video, she just wanted it to be anti-police.

Mark Y

“It’s not really a stretch to believe that Lawther was violent”? but it’s a stretch to imagine the police officer was just being unjustly violent?
“shrieking harpy”? whereas the anti-gay protestor and police are not harpie?.
“often signals she didn’t care what she was capturing on video”? but the policeman cared about the pride parade?

I think we know where you’re coming from. Instead of being anti-police. You’re pro-police, pretending to be neutral. Get a grip.

Fact is, a video shows an unarmed Woman being punched and kicked to the ground by a police Man – and you seem to want to defend that action. Sad and pathetic.

InvisibleZombie

I did not say or imply that “it’s a stretch to imagine the police officer was just being unjustly violent”. You did.
I did not say or imply that “the anti-gay protestor and police are not harpie”. You did. (Technically harpies are female and I couldn’t tell exactly who was yelling but it WAS a loud and agressive female presence.)
I did not say or imply that the police didn’t care about the pride parade. You did. Around here they take very good care of us but we’re not allowed to hit and kick them with repercussions. (I suppose, I don’t plan to put it to the test this week!)

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